Major Tom to Cabin
 

Is there a requirement for aircrew (The pilot kind) to make contact with the passengers at any stage of the flight or do they just do it out of courtesy?

Been on a couple of flights over the last month, one to Singapore and one just getting back from Japan. On the Singapore flights the captain gave us updates on weather, any delay expectations, time of arrival and any chance of turbulance. Basically kept us well informed.

On the Japan flights all we got was basically the Customer Service Manager(CSM) speech welcoming us onto jetstar and to enjoy our flight. Not a peep from the pilots on flights there and back. When we departed Japan the seat belt sign remained on for much longer than normal. Then we hit some turbulence, a few minutes later the CSM gets on the PA to warn us on the turbulence that has already occurred. Just as she got to the part of the captain leaving the seatbelt sign on for a while the seatbelt sign went out (communication breakdown maybe) and she just stopped her speech half way through. Later in the flight we hit some heavy turbulence again with no word from the pilots. Just a buzzer and a seatbelt light come on prior. You would think that it is the pilots responsibility for the safety of the passengers. With that responsibility you would think that the passengers will be well informed on flight details. During the heavy turbulence it had a few people worried , including me. I could hear people uttering words like Sh*t and children crying. Even during these conditions I would like the pilot would have made some sort of contact prior like how long they might expect it to last.

My point being whether or not the pilots are required to make contact with the passengers? It is disappointing from my perspective to just jump on an aircraft and get absolutely no information from take off to landing. Just delayed information from the CSM.

Maybe the cabin intercom from the flightdeck was U/S, however you would expect the CSM to mention this and make appropriate announcements, turbulence etc.

You would have to check each carriers SOP's.

Usually its pre engine start, begin and/or end of cruise. Depends on the workload up front though. Long haul flights you might not hear a peep until downwind.

If the aircraft's PA's are not working, well then the plane is grounded until sorted. No question asked.

There is no legal requirement for pilots to make PA's. Most of the required items for briefing passengers etc. is covered by the Cabin Manager's announcements (such as the preflight briefing).

That said, most airlines do ask for the flight crew to make at least some announcements - but that is an internal thing for passenger relations reasons.

And as Lukas points out - no PA system from the flight deck working, no fly.

I always like hearing the pilot make an announcement before departure, it is very calming to hear a confident, cheerful captain come on before push back, especially if it involves information regarding flight time, weather at destination, delays and expected weather en route.

I once had a captain who got a bit mixed up on a JFK-LAX QF flight when he informed us that we would be arriving at about 7.30pm on February 4, when in fact we were to be arriving at 10.30pm on April 2.....:D

Tony,

The flight deck to cabin PA must be serviceable for flight.

All normal and emergency PA's (ie evacuation, alerts, stand downs etc) are given via this medium.

There is dispatch relief for some interphone functions, but not the PA.

There is also the possibility that the crew were training (and busy). A PA has fairly low priority in such circumstances. Not to say that it is flippantly dismissed, just that the crew will do one, workload permitting. On your flight it might not have been possible.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I was just curious if there was a requirement for the aircrew to make any form of communication to the passengers.

Like Jason I like to hear a confident captains voice at the start of a flight with info provided such as flight time, weather and other issue that may affect the flight.

In saying this the connecting flight from Gold Coast to Sydney was great. Pilot said from the start we might have to hold above Sydney due to traffic and we are expecting showers, which is exactly what happened.

Whatever the requirements are, having the aircrew communicate with the passengers (the customers) I think is good for business and makes the passengers feel part of the flight. It also indicates the comfort and safety of the passengers is important to the person in charge. Otherwise might as well fly UPS of Fedex :p.

Speaking about that..

might sound completely stupid but I have noticed PA's made by the pilots to be alot less audible in regards to volume level then those made by the CSM/FA'S..?

I was once flying Cairns-Brisbane on DJ and the Captain came on when we started to descend and told us that we were commencing our descent into Melbourne. Created a few confused faces.

Its a bit hit and miss. Sometimes they're far too loud too ;).

Part of the problem is that we don't get direct feedback from the speakers in the cabin, only whatever volume you have selected on your own audio panel. Also, all the aircraft seem to be slightly different (different mic, different background noise levels as well), and so for the same voice level the PA goes out at different levels.

The FA's have the advantage of being able to directly hear their audio level in the cabin and can modulate their volume as necessary.